Bill Waterson, Altrincham FC director, announces that "We will be playing the Isle of Man representative side, in Douglas, on Saturday 14th July, with a 5pm kick off. Steam Packet Holidays can sort out ferry and hotel options, and are quoting £95 per person including one night accomodation. Our contact there is Catreeney Denham, and she can be reached either on 01624 645777 or by e-mail.There are also flight options with the 07:20 Easyjet flight from Liverpool currently being the cheapest. Flybe also offer flights from Liverpool, and there are also flights from Manchester, which tend to be more expensive. For the southern based fans, there is a good EasyJet flight from Gatwick, or a BA alternative from London City".

It's a busy summer for the Isle of Man, as they are also competing (as Ellan Vannin) in the CONIFA World Cup for "independent football associations" in the south east of England.

Looking at their squad for that tournament, the vast majority are based on the island, but one player is from Bottesford Town in the Northern Counties East League, and I know one or two readers will be interested to see that Seamus Sharkey is a Sligo Rovers player.

It's a busy summer for the Isle of Man, as they are also competing (as Ellan Vannin) in the CONIFA World Cup for "independent football associations" in the south-east of England.

Looking at their squad for that tournament, the vast majority are based on the island, but one player is from Bottesford Town in the Northern Counties East League, and I know one or two readers will be interested to see that Seamus Sharkey is a Sligo Rovers player.

I believe they're two different sides - Ellan Vannin are an unofficial team and not recognised by FA, but tolerated. I think because the Isle of Man has aspirations of following Gibraltar into European competitions

It's a busy summer for the Isle of Man, as they are also competing (as Ellan Vannin) in the CONIFA World Cup for "independent football associations" in the south-east of England.

Looking at their squad for that tournament, the vast majority are based on the island, but one player is from Bottesford Town in the Northern Counties East League, and I know one or two readers will be interested to see that Seamus Sharkey is a Sligo Rovers player.

I believe they're two different sides - Ellan Vannin are an unofficial team and not recognised by FA, but tolerated. I think because the Isle of Man has aspirations of following Gibraltar into European competitions

I suspect some of the same players may play in both, but, after looking into it, you are right, they are two different teams, and the Isle of Man representative side only select players from the Isle of Man League, so the two I mentioned won't be involved. When Ellan Vannin played Yorkshire recently, I heard something about the Yorkshire players resigning from their clubs before the game, then rejoining them afterwards, so they didn't play against an unrecognised association while being a member of a club subject to the FA. As the Ellan Vannin players all play for Isle of Man FA clubs, they may do likewise?

I think those aspirations of following Gibraltar have been blocked as FIFA/UEFA no longer allow dependent territories to join, but those already in, such as Gibraltar, can remain.

It's a busy summer for the Isle of Man, as they are also competing (as Ellan Vannin) in the CONIFA World Cup for "independent football associations" in the south east of England.

Looking at their squad for that tournament, the vast majority are based on the island, but one player is from Bottesford Town in the Northern Counties East League, and I know one or two readers will be interested to see that Seamus Sharkey is a Sligo Rovers player.

It's a busy summer for the Isle of Man, as they are also competing (as Ellan Vannin) in the CONIFA World Cup for "independent football associations" in the south-east of England.

Looking at their squad for that tournament, the vast majority are based on the island, but one player is from Bottesford Town in the Northern Counties East League, and I know one or two readers will be interested to see that Seamus Sharkey is a Sligo Rovers player.

I believe they're two different sides - Ellan Vannin are an unofficial team and not recognised by FA, but tolerated. I think because the Isle of Man has aspirations of following Gibraltar into European competitions

I suspect some of the same players may play in both, but, after looking into it, you are right, they are two different teams, and the Isle of Man representative side only select players from the Isle of Man League, so the two I mentioned won't be involved. When Ellan Vannin played Yorkshire recently, I heard something about the Yorkshire players resigning from their clubs before the game, then rejoining them afterwards, so they didn't play against an unrecognised association while being a member of a club subject to the FA. As the Ellan Vannin players all play for Isle of Man FA clubs, they may do likewise?

I think those aspirations of following Gibraltar have been blocked as FIFA/UEFA no longer allow dependent territories to join, but those already in, such as Gibraltar, can remain.

I can imagine that the Yorkshire player that was most twitchy about getting involved in that process was Callum Charlton.